


Take the Parts that I Remember and Stitch them Back Together

by Dumbelectricfish



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Chance Meetings, Flirting, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Previous Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 20:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12825861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dumbelectricfish/pseuds/Dumbelectricfish
Summary: Years after Ray left Achievement Hunter to stream on his own, he runs into Ryan by chance, and rekindles the connection that they had shared years before.(Set in a universe where Ryan is not married and Ray is not with Tina)





	Take the Parts that I Remember and Stitch them Back Together

“Delta Flight 263 from LAX to Austin, Texas, is now boarding.”

Ray stood up out of his chair, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and grasping the handle of his carry on suitcase. Slowly the crowd of people gathered around the terminal began to form a line, filtering through the boarding pass check. Ray felt himself zoning out a little as he waited for his turn, focusing on the music in his ears instead of how tired he was. He was on his way back to Austin after a convention in California, and after the long crazy con weekend, he was exhausted.

Once he had his pass scanned, he made his way onto the plane, stashing his suitcase in the bin above his seat row and sitting down without a word. He was lucky enough to have a window seat this time, and for several minutes after he sat down no one sat in the two seats next to him. He kept his headphones on, tuning out the babble of voices around him. Outside, the cloud cover made the runway, the sky, and the other planes all varying shades of gray.

He jumped as he felt movement in the row beside him. He turned away from the window and nearly choked as he saw who it was sitting down next to him. Their eyes met as his seat mate put his own suitcase in the overhead bin and sat down next to him.

“Hello, Ray.”

Ryan Haywood.

Ray hadn’t seen Ryan Haywood in easily 4 years, not since quitting Rooster Teeth. They had interacted on twitter from time to time, but despite living in the same city, their paths had not crossed.

“Hey Ryan,” he responded with a smile. His heart started racing a little as Ryan sat down next to him, smelling of some sort of spice, and wood. Was that a really good cologne? Shampoo? Ray wasn’t sure but he felt blood rushing to his ears and he was sure the smell was going to be the death of him. Also Ryan was wearing a backwards hat, a look that Ray had never seen on him before, but it was a shockingly good one?

“Long time no see,” Ray said as they settled in and the flight attendants began going through the pre-flight routines.

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Ryan said with a smile on his face. Something within Ray fluttered, and he was convinced he was going to die on this plane before they even took off because of Ryan. He and Ryan had had… a bit of a thing? At Rooster Teeth, prior to Ray leaving. Nothing serious, just general flirtations, but it was all coming back to Ray now. “How have you been?”

“Great, man. Things have been really good.”

“Still streaming for a living?” Ryan asked as they began taxiing down the runway.

“Yup, still streaming. It’s great, to be honest. Twitch is such a great site and I have an amazing community that supports me.”

“That’s really great to hear.”

“I hear you’ve been streaming for a while now as well?”

“I have, yeah! It started off as a hobby to do in the evenings after work, but I’ve really been enjoying it.”

“That’s awesome, man. I’m glad to hear that.”

Their conversation paused as the plane’s engines revved and they began gaining altitude. Ray swallowed a few times, to pop his ears. Ryan fidgeted with his backpack for a second and pulled out a pack of gum. After pulling out a stick for himself, he surprised Ray by reaching over and tapping his hand. Ray glanced at his face for a second before looking down at Ryan’s hand, and the stick of gum.

“Do you want a piece? I always chew gum when I fly because of my ears.”

“Oh thank you,” Ray reached for it, but as he grasped it his fingers accidentally brushed against Ryan’s, and the blood in his ears started roaring. He turned his head to look out the window and began chewing the gum, focusing on the minty taste and clearing his ears to calm himself down. He couldn’t help but think about how _good_ Ryan looked. When they had worked together before, Ryan had been the typical “dad” type, pasty, a little pudgy, not the best haircut. He had still been attractive, in that steady dad sort of way, but the Ryan sitting next to him was someone completely different. His hair wasn’t too visible under his baseball hat, but it looked trim, and he had a short, trimmed beard that was absolutely devastating. He also looked like he had been maintaining a workout regimen, because any trace of a “dad bod” was absolutely _gone._ He even had visible chest muscles beneath his Achievement Hunter shirt.

_Don’t stare, Ray, you fucking creep._ He thought. He kept trying to get as good of a glance as he could out of the corner of his eye; he looked at Ryan for just a second too long, and Ryan glanced over at him with a coy smile on his face, and their eyes met. Ray grinned but looked away as fast as he could, hoping Ryan couldn’t see the massive blush spreading from his ears to his cheeks and neck.

The flight attendants were beginning to make their way down the aisle with their snack and drink carts, and when they reached Ray’s and Ryan’s row, Ryan ordered a diet Coke, and Ray had to hold back laughter. Clearly, Ryan was still “Ryan the diet Coke guy.”

“Do you want anything?” Ryan asked softly at the same time as the flight attendant turned her attention to Ray.

“Uh…” Ray stuttered. His eyes had caught Ryan’s biceps, as he reached over to take his cup of diet Coke from the flight attendant. Yeah, Ryan had been working out, all right. Fuck. “Uh, just regular Coke please. And pretzels.”

Ryan, ever the gentleman, reached out and took Ray’s drink and little bag of pretzels from the flight attendant and handed them directly to Ray, moving carefully to avoid spilling. Their fingers brushed together again and Ray quickly started opening his bag of pretzels to give his hands something to do that _wasn’t_ thinking about the feeling of Ryan’s touch. He took a quick look over in Ryan’s direction, hoping to make it look like his attention had been caught by movement behind Ryan, but their eyes met again, and Ray was _convinced_ he could see a blush spreading across Ryan’s cheeks.

He took a sip of his drink, both to distract him and to relieve his throat that was dry from both the pretzels and nerves. He was _actually_ going to have a heart attack on this flight because of Ryan, he was convinced.

“So what were you doing in LA?” he managed to say, forcing his voice to sound as relaxed as possible.

Ryan took another sip of his own drink. “I was there for TwitchCon.”

Ray’s eyes widened. “Me too. I’m shocked our paths didn’t cross.”

“Really?” Ryan asked. “Well actually it doesn’t surprise me that you were there. I should have guessed, since it’s your career and all. It’s too bad we didn’t run into each other at the con,” Ryan paused for a second. “But I’m glad we ran into each other now.”

“Me too,” Ray said, his voice getting soft. Their eyes met for a moment and Ray had to look away. He quietly took a deep breath to calm himself down. “How have things been at AH?”

Ryan shook his cup, which was mostly ice at this point. “Great, honestly. I work with a lot of really great people, and I feel like we’ve really hit a rhythm with content lately. There’s a lot of amazing things happening.” He paused for a moment, and Ray looked at him. “It took us a long time to fill the hole that you left, though.”

Ray felt his chest constrict tightly, almost to the point of being painful. Ryan’s voice sounded mournful, even though he had spoken of something that had happened years ago, at this point. “Yeah… it took some adjusting for me, as well… It was time for me to move on to something else, but once the shine wore off of the idea of doing my own thing, I missed you guys. I think Jeremy was a great replacement for me though.”

“He didn’t replace you,” Ryan said, the tones of his voice devastatingly soft and low. “He’s his own person and bringing him on full time changed the dynamics, just like you are your own person and brought your own good things to the table. As far as being the sixth person, yeah I guess you could see him as a replacement, but he didn’t replace your humor and unique presence.”

Ray felt speechless. What do you say to something like that? How was he supposed to respond? He met Ryan’s eyes before lowering them and smiling a little. “Thanks, Ryan… that… means a lot.”

“You meant a lot to AH, Ray. To all of us…”

Ray looked away and closed his eyes, hoping to God that Ryan couldn’t see all the emotions that he was sure were obvious all over his face. He felt a well of emotion constrict his throat, and he focused on the clouds outside the window to keep from tearing up. _To all of us…_ The memories of clowning around with Gavin and Michael, and the flirting with Ryan were all rushing through his head. He could practically feel himself back in their old Stage 5 office, like he was there right now. Gavin’s screaming, Geoff’s laughter, dying heroically in some GTA video to save Ryan.

He opened his eyes and it took him several seconds to ground himself in his current environment again. Ryan was browsing twitter on his phone but he looked up when he noticed Ray looking at him again. Neither of them bothered to say anything for a while, and just settled back and listened to the sounds of the plane around them. Ray didn’t even want to put his headphones back on in case he missed any moment with Ryan.

“So are you seeing anyone right now...?” Ryan asked quietly after a long silence.

Ray choked on his own saliva. After coughing for a minute to clear his throat, he replied. “Uh, no… I’m not. Been single for a while. For a while my stream was really taking off, and I wanted to take the time and give my full attention to my community, instead of trying to divide my time.” He realized how that sounded. “But things have… leveled off, now. Stream is more steady.”

Ryan didn’t say anything right away, just bit his lip and nodded. “That’s good.”

Ray hesitated. “What, uh. What about you?”

Ryan scratched his cheek, his fingernails rasping against his beard. “Uh, no, I’m not seeing anyone either. Haven’t in a long time.”

“I’m shocked you’re single,” Ray quipped. “A guy like you seems like he would be quite the catch.” He nearly bit his tongue after the words left his mouth. _Not subtle at all, Ray. Not subtle._

Ryan let out a short laugh that sounded a little surprised. “The right person just hasn’t come along for a while, I guess…” He finished his sentence with a heavy look at Ray. His crystal clear blue eyes froze Ray in place, and he couldn’t look away. Ray’s heart raced, loudly enough he was sure Ryan could hear it. Ryan was so beautiful it was like a punishment just to look at him, Ray realized. _Wow Ray, that doesn’t sound thirsty at all._

Ryan put his arm on the armrest between their chairs, and when their shoulders brushed, Ray was sure he was going to just spontaneously combust from the touch of Ryan’s skin and shirt against his. Ryan’s movement caused a whiff of the spice smell that Ray caught earlier to drift over to him, and Ray fidgeted in his seat. There were still two hours left in this flight and Ray was sure he wasn’t going to make it to the Austin airport alive. Why did he ever lose touch with Ryan? Why did he let so many years go by without trying to contact him? Why had he let himself forget about the connection that he and Ryan had had?

The clouds around the plane cleared and the sun flooded the cabin, illuminating Ryan’s face from his left side, and bringing out the stunning red and gold in his beard. Looking at him, Ray vowed that he wouldn’t let this opportunity slip through his fingers. He just desperately hoped that Ryan felt the same. Panic started to build in his stomach at the thought of Ryan thinking this encounter was nothing special, that they would get back to Austin and go back to their normal lives and potentially never speak again, despite living in the same city. He couldn’t let that happen.

When the pilot announced that they were making their final descent into Austin’s airspace, Ray had to fight back tears. He had never been so desperate for a flight to continue. These three hours spent in Ryan’s company had been… absolutely incredible.

He couldn’t look at Ryan as they descended and landed, without fearing he might do something he would regret. Once they were safely back on the ground, Ryan stood up and opened the overhead bin that held their suitcases, and removed Ray’s first, and then his own. He handed Ray his suitcase without a word, but Ray couldn’t help but meet his eyes then. They were already stood extremely close to each other due to the cramped and crowded space of the airplane, but looking up at Ryan, Ray felt a magnetism between them, forgetting the other passengers were even there. Ryan’s broad shoulders were nearly perfectly at his eye level, and Ray found himself tracing his eyes up from Ryan’s shoulders, flitting across his neck and Adam’s apple to his bearded jawbone, his slightly open mouth, and piercing blue eyes. Their eyes met and Ryan bit his lip, and Ray felt dizzy.

They didn’t break eye contact until a young child pushed past their legs, anxious to disembark the plane. Ryan, ever the considerate gentleman, anxiously made sure he was out of the child’s way, before meeting Ray’s eyes one last time and walking away down the aisle to the exit. Ray could practically hear his heart break in his chest as he watched Ryan walk away.

Grabbing his suitcase and backpack, he tried to hurry after Ryan, unable to let him go yet, but a young family got in front of him and slowed his progress getting off the plane. When he finally made it off the ramp and out into the airport terminal, he frantically looked around for Ryan, and cursed under his breath when he couldn’t spot Ryan in the crowd. He was gone, Ray was sure. Headed out of the airport and headed home, and Ray would probably never talk to him again. Ray stopped in the middle of the walkway and covered his face with his hand, trying not to cry. _You fucking baby,_ he thought. _He doesn’t owe you anything. He didn’t have to be so kind to you. He didn’t have to wait for you._

“Ray!” He jumped as a voice called his name. Looking up, he nearly collapsed in relief as he realized it was Ryan, hurrying towards him.

“I thought you left,” Ray said, hating how small and vulnerable his voice sounded.

“I can’t stay long because I have a ride on the way, but I want to give you this,” Ryan said, handing Ray a carefully folded cocktail napkin from the plane. Ray looked at it with furrowed brows for a second before unfolding it and realizing that Ryan had written his phone number on it. He looked up at Ryan, grinning.

“Text me sometime. I don’t want to go another three years without talking to you.” Ryan said.

Ray nodded, unable to come up with a response. Ryan paused, looking at him, for a second, before wrapping his arms tightly around Ray and hugging him. The contact took Ray by surprise, but he wrapped his arms around Ryan in return, Ryan’s spicy, woody smell washing over him again. The hug was brief, but Ryan trailed his hand across Ray’s side as they separated, and shivers ran down Ray’s spine. The possibility of Ryan kissing him flickered across Ray’s mind, but that was absurd. Too absurd. They hadn’t seen each other in years.

Ryan didn’t kiss him. “I need to go, Ray… but I hope to hear from you.” He said.

“You will, Ryan.” He smiled. “It was great to see you again.”

“It was great to see you again too, Ray,” Ryan said. He touched Ray’s arm lightly and briefly before stepping away, and heading towards the baggage claim and exit. Ray felt goosebumps travel up his arm where Ryan had touched him. When Ryan finally disappeared amongst the crowd, Ray looked down at the napkin again, and the scribbled digits written on it. It was so old fashioned, writing your number on a napkin. But that was Ryan, right? Always such a gentleman.

As he slowly began making his way to the exit of the airport, he put the number into his contacts, labeling it as “Rye Bread,” a nickname Ryan had had years and years ago in Achievement Hunter.

_Hey, it’s Ray_

A few moments later his notification dinged.

_Hey._ __


End file.
